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Mecca under Wahhabism: Materialism imported into Muslim Heartland

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali comments on the prophecy of bedouins “…competing with each other in making tall buildings” :

“there is proof that it is blameworthy to compete boastfully, particularly in making tall buildings. Building tall structures was not known in the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his companions, may Allah be pleased with them. On the contrary, their buildings were small according to necessity. Abu’z-Zinad narrated from al-A’raj that Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘The Hour will not arise until people compete with each in making tall buildings.'” Al-Bukhari narrated it.

Abu Dawud narrated a hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out and saw an elevated dome and asked, ‘What is this?’ They said, ‘This is so and so’s,’ naming one of the Ansar men. Its owner came and greeted the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but he turned away from him repeatedly, and so the man demolished it.” At-Tabarani narrated through another route also from Anas, and his version has, “So the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Every building,’ and he gestured with his hand like this above his head, ‘which is more than this is unwholesome.'” Hareeth ibn as-Sa’ib said from al-Hasan, “I used to enter the houses of the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, during the khalifate of ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, and I could reach the ceiling with my hand.”
It is narrated from ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he wrote, “Do not make your buildings tall, because it is the worst of your days.”

Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad said, “Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, asked Salman, ‘Should we not build you a house, Abu ‘Abdullah?’ He asked, ‘You are not making me a king?’ He replied, ‘No. We will build you a house of cane, which we will roof with reeds that will almost touch your head when you stand, and will almost touch both of your extremities when you sleep.’ He said, ‘It is almost as if you had been within my self [and seen what I desired].

‘”‘Ammar ibn Abi ‘Ammar said, “If a man erects a house taller than seven cubits, he is called, ‘O most deviant of the deviant, where are you going?'” Ibn Abi’d-Dunya narrated all of it.
Ya’qub ibn Abi Shaybah said in his Musnad , “It has reached me from Ibn ‘Aishah that he said, ‘Ibn Abi Shumaylah told us, “The Muslims resided around the mosque,”meaning in Basrah “in hair tents and then theft spread among them. So they wrote to ‘Umar and he gave them permission to use cane. They built with cane and then fire spread among them. So he gave them permission to use clay bricks but he forbade anyone to lift the roof above seven cubits, saying, ‘If you build your houses with it, then build the mosque with it.'”‘ Ibn ‘Aishah said, ‘Utbah ibn Ghazwan built the mosque of Basrah from cane and he said, “Whoever prays in it when it is made of cane is better than whoever prays in it when it is made of adobe. Whoever prays in it when it is made of adobe is better than whoever prays in it when it is made of baked brick.”‘”

Ibn Majah narrated the hadith of Anas that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The Hour will not arise until people boastfully compete with other [in building] mosques,” and a hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “I see that you will exalt your mosques after me just as the Jews exalted their synagogues and the Christians their churches.”

Ibn Abi’d-Dunya narrated from Isma’il ibn Muslim that al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, built the mosque he said, ‘Build it as a shelter made of palm-sticks covered with panic grass like the shelter of Musa, peace be upon him.'” Someone asked Hasan, “What was the shelter of Musa?” He said, “When he raised his hand he could reach the shelter,” meaning “the ceiling.”